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What We Know with Max Foster

Trump Expected To Speak On "Free And Fair" Elections Tonight; White House Teleprompter Operator Being Investigated For Alleged Insider Trading On Trump Speeches; Iranian Military: Strait Of Hormuz "Unbreakable Red Line"; At Least One Dead As Severe Flooding Hits Southern Texas; Zelenskyy Faces Protests Over Ouster Of Mykhaylo Fedorov. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired July 16, 2026 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:34]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: We're hours away from the U.S. president's primetime national address.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

The U.S. midterm elections are just four months away. And tonight, Donald Trump will try to convince the American people that they need to be fixed.

The president is delivering a primetime address that's expected to re- litigate his widely debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Democrats are concerned that all of this is a pretext for unnecessary

election overhauls that would disenfranchise Democratic voters.

Republicans, meanwhile, are worried that the president is focused on the wrong thing and that the American people really want to hear about

affordability and ending the conflict in the Gulf.

The White House says Mr. Trump will present evidence to back up his claims tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president tonight and everything he is

saying will be backed by facts and by evidence that will be provided this evening. We should have the safest and most secure elections in the history

of the world. And what the president will be speaking about tonight will show you that perhaps that is not the case, and we need to make some

adjustments moving forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein joins us now.

You'd expect Democrats to have concerns about her speech, but it's the Republicans that are interesting here, isn't it?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Certainly, it's exactly right. And President Trump is getting ready about six hours from now to

give this primetime address that he says is going to focus on election security and include what he is describing as a very big announcement.

Now, like with many Trump speeches, we do not know yet the exact substance of that big announcement. The president is likely going to be working on

this speech up until the very last minute. But according to two sources familiar with the matter, the president is expected to discuss voting

machines security as well as alleged efforts by foreign nations to influence American elections.

Now, the president has long been fixated on this issue of election integrity. He has repeatedly and falsely claimed that he won the 2020

election. He has also been aggressively advocating for the Save Act. That is that election overhaul legislation that includes voter ID and really

does not have support, including from Senate Republicans, enough to pass at this stage. And election law experts ahead of this speech are raising

concerns that the president may be attempting to sow doubt in the integrity of these upcoming November midterm elections.

But we're also hearing from some Republicans who are worried that this speech is going to do little to quell voters' real anxieties about the

economy, inflation, the price of gas, all of those household issues.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushing back on that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You guys have not heard the speech yet, so I would digress with the criticism until you actually hear

what the president is going to say and what he's going to say when he addresses the American public. I would also add again that the

administration, and especially this president, are able to walk and chew gum at the same time and tackle a number of issues on a number of different

subjects every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, Levitt also indicated that it's possible that the president addresses this ongoing and escalating conflict with Iran as well as the

economy during his remarks. And it comes as there is a new "Washington Post" poll with some very notable numbers about how Americans are feeling

about all of this. It says that 33 percent approve of President Trump's handling of the economy and just 29 percent of Americans approve of how he

is handling this conflict with Iran.

So, this could be an opportunity for the president to speak or directly to the American people and lay out his rationale for escalating potentially

the military operation with Iran -- against Iran. We'll have to see if he's able to do that, Max.

FOSTER: Yes, and also bring us up to say, I know that Leavitt also spoke about the prompter that works at the White House. It appears to have been

doing some insider trading. That's the allegation.

KLEIN: That's right. Well, as President Trump is set to deliver this primetime address tonight, his very longtime teleprompter operator, Gabriel

Perez, is not going to be rolling that prompter for him. Perez is under investigation by that federal agency that regulates prediction markets.

They are alleging that he has made trades on the site Kalshi that were flagged for possible insider activity.

[15:05:03]

That includes bets on words and phrases that would be used in speeches by Trump.

Now, Leavitt said that he is has been placed on unpaid administrative leave, but Perez has been with President Trump for a decade. He is a very

trusted aide. Levitt said that Trump felt that this is a, quote, "disgrace", Max.

FOSTER: Yeah, fascinating. Betsy, thank you so much for that.

Now, the Iranian military is warning that the Strait of Hormuz is an unbreakable red line as the rhetoric and the military strikes between Iran

and the U.S. escalate. The Pentagon says the U.S. launched a new wave of attacks just last hour as President Trump considers expanding American

military operations in Iran. Tehran says it'll crush infrastructure throughout the region if President Trump carries out his threat to hit

Iran's power plants and bridges.

CNN's Anna Stewart is with us now.

And it's this focus on power plants and the energy infrastructure, which is actually proving quite effective, isn't it? But there's a broad issue about

energy markets.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this rhetoric just keeps escalating right now. And looking at energy prices, you may be surprised actually that

oil prices aren't spiking higher than they are. Around $84 a barrel for Brent today, that is significantly higher than where we were at a week ago.

In fact, a little over a week ago, we're actually looking at sort of pre- war levels on the oil price. That, of course, thanks to the MOU.

Now that ceasefire agreement is so quite clearly in tatters. We're looking at an elevated oil price, but it could be higher and I think there are

still hopes that maybe there will be some ability to transit. Yesterday though, looking at data, Max, only 13 merchant ships made it through the

Strait of Hormuz. That's about 1/10 of traffic pre-war.

A few ships may be traveling without their transponders on, of course, but really not much oil getting out. And there were some warnings today from

the IEA regarding global reserves. They have released 400 million barrels of oil since the war began, or about three-quarters of that so far. This is

to enable countries to cushion what has been a massive, obviously, huge reduction in terms of the oil supply that is getting through. That can't

continue forever.

The IEA is warning that this is something that has to be considered going forwards. They do have very big reserves, $1.8 trillion, so currently a bit

of a fraction. But what concerns people going ahead is just looking at how not much is improving with the Strait of Hormuz right now. The sounds

aren't getting any better. The rhetoric is escalating. There are continued attacks, and very few vessels are actually making that transit.

FOSTER: Yeah, it's a huge risk.

Anna, thank you so much.

In an exclusive, sources tell CNN the Pentagon still hasn't conducted a standard review of a strike on a primary school in Iran more than four

months after the deadly incident. Iranian state media says 168 children, 14 teachers, died in that attack. Sources say there's evidence the U.S.

military accidentally hit the school, due at least in part to outdated intelligence. A Defense Department official told CNN an investigation is

ongoing.

A life-threatening flood emergency unfolding in southern Texas, where at least one person has died. A new warning for what's being called a large

and deadly flood wave from the nearby rivers, threatening the same area of the deadly Camp Mystic floods last summer. More than six months' worth of

rain has reportedly already fallen in parts of southern Texas.

Now, the flooding in Texas has forced thousands of residents to quickly escape rising water. One resident explains what it's been like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT SHELTON, FLOOD VICTIM: The whole kitchen was flooded, and within a blink of an eye, it was already waist level. And then the door broke open,

and more water came rushing in, and so we went to the attic. And the water got all the way up to within a foot of the attic. So, it was climbing that

much. I was scared the house was going to break apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, last hour, CNN spoke to the mayor of Kerrville about the unfolding emergency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KABB)

JOE HERRING JR., MAYOR OF KERRVILLE: What we're seeing here is levels of water that are even higher in my opinion and the water river levels we saw

July 4th, 2025. It rained hard all night, but it had rained hard Monday night and Tuesday night as well. And so, as we went to bed last night, it

was dry until about midnight. But since midnight, we've had hard, hard rains in the Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point and Comfort areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Here with more is CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

I mean, this story has been building across the week, hasn't it? But it's getting worse every day, it seems.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, you heard the mayor there talk about Comfort, Texas, Kerrville, Texas. This is along the Guadalupe River.

And you're looking at the aerial extent of the flooding.

[15:10:00]

Just look how -- as far as the eye can see, there are homes underneath this. People live here and they are certainly impacted by this extensive,

widespread flooding that's been catastrophic and unfortunately now deadly.

But I want to show you this. This just gives you an idea of the rushing waters and one of the local rivers and tributaries there. You can see some

debris getting strewn down the river and then we get to this piece of video because this is really quite astounding. This is the aftermath of this

deadly, large flood wave.

That's the National Weather Service's own language describing the water that came down the Guadalupe River. This is in the town of Ingram, Texas.

You can see RVs overturned, vehicles tossed like toys. Power lines have been snapped. A lot of mud and debris just left behind in its wake.

And it's all because of this. We have experienced rainfall totals in excess of 675 millimeters. That's incredible. Nearly 27 inches over two feet.

These areas were hit hardest, but there's so many rivers and so many tributaries across this area. This is known as the Texas Hill Country, so

the water filters down into those streams and tributaries, makes its way into the larger rivers and then it becomes that deadly force, that deadly

wall of water.

So that is why right now you see these catastrophic flash flood warnings. They're highlighted here with the white polygons. I'm going to zoom in on

this northern territory here. This is the Pedernales River and you can see how that warning stretches from east to west. Well, it's basically just

following the banks of the river and then just to itself.

This is the Guadalupe River, the river that had the flash flooding that killed scores last year, during the month of July. Well, that is currently

under a catastrophic flash flood emergency and you can see why.

There was a 25-foot rise in this particular river gauge at Comfort in -- on along the Guadalupe River in just one hour. Think about that. That's about

a 2 1/2 story building of water rise within that period of an hour. Now it's so critical where that rain falls, right?

So, here's Camp Mystic for reference from last year. We're familiar with that. Hunt and Kerrville did not actually surpass the 2025 benchmark flood

level, but Comfort just downstream did. So that's the video that you've seen on your TV screens just a few moments ago.

There's still several river gauges right now. Forecast to remain at major flood stage through the evening hours. But the good news here is that, Max,

the rain is finally, finally starting to give up and I think we'll dry out by this weekend. We can keep our fingers crossed because we need some shed

of good news -- good hope and good news here for sure.

FOSTER: Yeah, it'd be good to see that, wouldn't it?

Derek, thank you so much.

Now, poor air quality likely to linger for parts of the U.S. this week. This comes as massive plumes of Canadian wildfire smoke pour over the

border. The smoke is considered dangerous, partly due to tiny pollutants it may contain. Air quality has deteriorated across Pennsylvania, New York,

and some Midwestern states.

Now, the government official many credit with creating Ukraine's successful drone warfare program has lost his position. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

has moved to replace Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. His dismissal is apparently part of a broader cabinet reshuffle. Mr. Zelenskyy's decision

sparked protests today.

Here's what Fedorov's supporters in Kyiv said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy made absolutely incredible decisions and he made great (INAUDIBLE). Yeah, great improvements in the Ukrainian army and

defense. And this is just -- this just makes no sense.

I woke up today and I was like, why? This makes no sense to me. So, yeah, this is why I'm here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I support the minister because I believe his decisions were effective and his work was productive. And we've

all seen that, because we've started sleeping at night, unlike before. And if we're going to remove the most effective people from the system now,

then let's just give up right away. I believe this is not the way to do things, and we're all here today to defend this view.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been in Kyiv for talks with President Zelenskyy. He arrived just hours before another wave

of overnight strikes on the Ukrainian capital by Russia. Despite its recent attacks on Kyiv, the Kremlin has made little progress on the front lines.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Huge losses, tiny gains, and lies. That's the reality of Russia's war on

Ukraine. It's plain to see in the strategic town of Kostyantynivka, where last week Russia planted a flag in its center, claiming its capture.

But that's not true. Ukraine still holds lots of it, yet its fate over the past year lays bares the crisis at the heart of Russia's war.

[15:15:00]

Kostyantynivka sits right on what's known as the fortress belt of heavily defended towns in the Donbas, the capture of which is a key Putin goal.

Take it, and the other two remaining towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk are well within reach. But wind back a year, take a look at reliable

battlefield maps, and you see a story about Moscow's persistence, but also how much tiny gains cost.

Last year, we saw the road in was lined with fishing nets protecting from drones, but the town was under Ukrainian control and safe enough. But by

November, it was being hit hard here in the south west. With another drone video showing an air strike just a few streets away. Ukraine still had

troops casually in the city center, and Russia was still really on the contested south western outskirts.

It's in the first week of the year that the map records a big leap forward for Moscow.

But remember, their casualties across the whole front are estimated by the west at about 35,000 a month now dead and injured. The Ukrainians are at

this time still posting from the central railway station, but by February, white phosphorus is being used to horrific effect in the south west.

Even though the Ukrainians are still very much central, jump forward to April, and the damage done is horrific. Drone images right where we saw the

Ukrainians in November, as the Russians have slowly crept in. We saw how perilous it was to get in and out ourselves.

The netting we saw 10 months earlier now a graveyard for so many.

Russian flags central this week, even if the maps show they're far from controlling the town. One year of tiny, tiny steps and doubtless thousands

of Russian dead for a town that is relatively tiny itself, Russia's real weak spot in this war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Nick Paton Walsh there.

Now, in a world exclusive, the woman who accuses the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, of sexual misconduct has gone

public. Khan denies all allegations against him and has questioned the fairness of the investigation that has led to him being suspended.

Talking exclusively to CNN's Christiane Amanpour, the woman at the heart of this story has chosen to speak out for the very first time. On July 24, all

ICC member states will vote on whether Khan will be dismissed altogether in a case that some have attempted to tie to the ICC's arrest warrants for

Israeli officials, hoping that if they can do so, the arrest warrants would be discredited.

Here's Chris Jahn's report with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The woman who accuses the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, of

sexual misconduct, is going public for the first time. Khan denies all her allegations, and after a lengthy U.N. investigation, she sat down with me

for an exclusive interview about what she says happened and how it's impacted her.

Her name is Sarah. She works at the court, and she tells me that her allegations have nothing to do with the ICC's case against Israel's prime

minister and defense minister.

You may recall in 2024, Karim Khan broke the news to me on CNN that he was seeking arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, as well as

Hamas leaders. Since then, there have been efforts to tie Sarah's allegations to those warrants. Some supporters of Khan even going so far as

to suggest that she's working with Israel in an attempt to discredit the ICC. Sarah denies this, and no evidence has emerged to support it.

After a long and convoluted investigation into her sexual misconduct allegations, with several bodies and differing conclusions, Khan is now

suspended. And next Friday, all ICC member states will vote on whether to formally dismiss him.

It's a moment of crisis for the ICC because its future is unclear as the United States continues its pressure campaign against the court. Just this

week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the ICC, quote, "brick by brick."

But Kahn's accuser says that she never wanted to be in this position and that it is still difficult to speak about what happened to her. Here's what

Sarah told me about why she's speaking out now.

SARAH, ACCUSES ICC'S KARIM KHAN OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT, WHICH HE DENIES: I have been known as VO1 and anonymized, and that is meant to protect a

victim who comes forward or a complainant. But that also has had the opposite effect. It has allowed me to be a -- to be crafted in whatever way

suits another person. And there's been this caricature drawn, a state agent, a gold digger, crazy, emotional, a compulsive liar.

[15:20:07]

And there are thousands of women who will never have the opportunity to sit with you. And this is not unique to my circumstances, this happens every

day. And for me, what I want out of this is, at the very least, for people to consider the various ways in which we deflect from legitimate

allegations.

AMANPOUR: Karim Khan has repeatedly denied all allegations. We asked him to sit down for an interview with us. His legal team said it wouldn't be

appropriate at this time, but they did offer us an opportunity to speak with his lead counsel.

Here's some of what she told me.

SARETA ASHRAPH, LEAD COUNSEL FOR KARIM KHAN: We would like to say that these are serious allegations, and they needed to be taken seriously,

investigative seriously, and undergo a serious judicial review, and that is what has happened. The allegations that are presented in your program are

not new allegations. They are allegations which form part of a much larger body of evidence. Mr. Khan has denied and continues to deny them in their

entirety. any form of sexual contact relationship, consensual or non- consensual, with the complainant.

AMANPOUR: You can see more of that interview and Sarah's extended interview at CNN.com. And we will be watching the full vote on Khan's fate

next Friday.

I'm Christiane Amanpour, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, why's found a social media post by President Donald Trump are being called an ethics disaster by someone who used to work for

his administration? A CNN investigation is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: A CNN investigation has found U.S. President Donald Trump promoted companies' honest Truth Social account just days after he bought stock in

them.

[15:25:01]

The companies include Nvidia, Boeing, and Apple. The White House has denied that Mr. Trump has ever used his office for financial gain and said his

actions are aimed at benefiting the American public.

So, what we want to know is, can Donald Trump promote stocks that he owns?

Joining me now is Hilary Braseth, executive director at OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that covers money in politics.

I mean, he doesn't deny investing whilst president. He's done more so than any other president that we can name.

What -- you know, what's the issue with that?

HILARY BRASETH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OPENSECRETS: Yeah, thank you for having me. No government official should be using their platform to promote

businesses in which they invest. And whether real or perceived, this communicates a potential conflict of interest that has actual roots in

market dynamics. The whole reason insider trading laws exist is because it was so rampant back in the day that it caused major distress in the market

and eventually a crash with ripple effects everywhere.

Now, with regard to the president and the vice president, they have largely long been immune from conflict of interest laws. They do have to disclose

their financial holdings and transactions, much like Congress. But they are not an active part of the ethics bills that are currently in front of

Congress, which are discussing a whole nature of reforms that would include potentially barring members of Congress from making any stock trades.

Now, that said, most presidents have taken steps to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest by placing their investments into what we call blind

trusts. meaning that they don't know what their asset managers are doing, creating an effective obfuscation between the person who has access to

privy information and the folks who are managing their portfolio. President Trump chose a different path. He did cede control of his investments, but

he did not place them into a blind trust. So he does know how his money is being used.

FOSTER: The interesting part of this, though, is insider trading, obviously getting insider information. So maybe an analyst in a bank using

information that they know is going to come out and buying on that before the information's come out. But this is slightly different, isn't it,

because it's buying investments and then yourself impacting the market, which is the unique position that the president's in.

So, is it strictly insider trading under the law as we know it?

BRASETH: Not strictly insider trading but it does pose a question as to whether or not a publicly elected official should be using their platform

to promote businesses in which they are personally invested. Again, the president has an outsized platform in this regard and so it does pose

ethical considerations as to whether or not the public is okay with that and overall does it erode trust in the market which is the concern

underlying this here.

FOSTER: One of the arguments he often comes up with is that everyone's making money, so he's not an exception. But just explain to me why you

don't think, you know, it's fair of him to describe himself as not an exception.

BRASETH: Yeah, it's a great question, and this is a very heated debate. And it's a -- it's been a long heated debate with several pieces of

legislation that actually have bipartisan support in Congress right now that attempt to strengthen the ethics laws in this area.

Now, multiple proposals would ban members of Congress, as I mentioned earlier, from making stock trades while in office or would require them to

disclose publicly any sale seven to 14 days prior to making the sale. Other propositions essentially require members of congress to divest entirely

their individual stock holdings or place them in the blind trust.

They are apparently supposed to vote on one of those bills next week but what's interesting again is that these pieces of legislation are all

focused on Congress and so there is indeed a gaping hole when it comes to um executive office and the president wields great power when it comes to

both the public platform that they have that I don't think was necessarily around when initial ethics laws were created and secondly, the president

has great capacity to shape the way that laws get built.

And so, if they have a personal interest financially in certain companies and they could wield great power over whether those companies for example

receive government if they have a personal interest financially in certain companies, and they could wield great power over whether those companies,

for example, receive government contracts for billions of dollars, or whether policy could deregulate an industry in which they're invested, that

individual does stand to gain.

[15:30:09]

So, it's very important for us to consider all of these aspects in our modern era with such access to information.

FOSTER: Yes, we're in a very different era. Hilary, really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much for taking us through the ethical concerns

about those Trump investments.

Now, still to come, devastating floods in Texas are causing massive damage and forcing thousands to evacuate. We'll speak to one evacuee.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Let's get back to our story out of Texas. That's where torrential rain and flash floods have killed at least one person. The large flood

waves have surged down the Guadalupe and Pedernales Rivers, with the water levels rising rapidly in a short amount of time. About one year's worth of

rain has already fallen in southern Texas. This is the same area of Texas that was hit by similar devastating floods last summer.

Jonathan Petramala has more from Comfort, Texas, which is one of the hardest hit areas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN PETRAMALA, JOURNALIST: You can see a high water rescue truck in the distance still making the rounds, making sure there's not somebody that

maybe stayed behind, not thinking that the Guadalupe River would quite get this high. They might be uncomfortable and want to get to higher ground.

But this is the impact here in Comfort, Texas from the Guadalupe River. This is going to be one of the highest crests on record here. Talking to

locals, even last year's historic flood that killed 130 people upstream in Kerrville and Hunt, Texas.

The river here in Comfort did not reach the levels that what we're seeing here today.

[15:35:02]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those who live here know, you know, Mother Nature just does what she wants. But. I didn't think it was going to be as bad. I

didn't think it was going to be worse than the 4th of July one.

PETRAMALA: What you're seeing is as much of the geology of the Texas Hill Country as it is the hydrology, the rainfall that we saw. The ground here

is like concrete. It's limestone. Water passes really quickly through it. It's not absorbed at all.

So, any rain that falls quickly rushes down into the Guadalupe River, and that's what causes these rapid rises. That's what causes these destructive

and deadly flash floods that, unfortunately, now we've seen the last two years.

I'm going to continue to cover the impacts.

From Comfort, Texas, I'm Jonathan Petromala for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Gavin Walston now joins us. He lives in Center Point where the flooding occurred.

Thank you so much for joining us.

I mean, you're used to flash flooding. You've reported on CNN before, but explain why this was different this time around.

GAVIN WALSTON, RESIDENT OF CENTER POINT, TEXAS: Thank you for having me. And yes, as it's always commonly talked, we are used to these flash

flooding events. This one, we had more hyper awareness that we were going to be getting the floods. Again, it always boils down to we'd never know to

how much it's really going to rise and where. It's just more narrowed down, but that's what we deal with.

FOSTER: What's the latest situation from what you've seen?

WALSTON: Right now, the rivers are down. Most of the peaks and secondary or follow-up waves of water rises have ceased. We still have bridges that

are closed for inspection before they are deemed safe to cross.

There was a barge from last year's cleanup process that was 10 miles upriver that floated all the way down from the hunt Nimitz Lake area into

Kerrville, Louise Hayes Park and came to rest against that bridge which. struck off the larger concerns of getting that more in-depth inspection

before opening it.

FOSTER: We're looking at the images. There's very little, isn't there, the authorities could really do to help here, because it's obviously been so

overwhelming this year. Are you now at the point where you're considering whether or not that area is safe if this is going to happen every year?

WALSTON: This hill country again, as a lot of people you will ask and talk to say yes, we are accustomed to these. Are we accustomed to them being

this, tremendous so close together, no. The blessed thing was, as you reported earlier, we only have had one reported death so far due to the

additional hyper vigilance, and also not being on a. holiday weekend with everybody on the rivers as much.

It was still a mill the light -- middle of the night high water events. I just got out of Center Points at 5:10 and I had to go around the bridge in

Center Point's doubling back into Kerrville just to get out of the area for some work. And it just got worse from there.

FOSTER: And our reporter was describing how you got this very unusual ground, haven't you? It's very hard. So, any sort of flooding affects you

much more than areas where at least some of the, you know, water would be soaked into the ground.

WALSTON: Very, very much so. Our hill country limestone, it does not allow any permeation. We've been having some major flooding to our sister

counties South of us in Uvalde. The old man, the reporting on, you know, they're in one of the largest Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. So, it even

though they've been getting hit pretty bad and the flooding they -- runoff goes away a little bit quicker, but they've still seen astronomical

historical flooding as well.

Ours is that unpleasant specialty of it doesn't have anywhere to go but down the river and these large surge events and this one. We've had three

days of slow-moving systems that have just been letting go.

[15:40:02]

I think our accumulation in our area was 24 inches in the last three hours, some areas more, but it's just it's so much it does -- doesn't have

anywhere to go.

FOSTER: Yeah, I'm Gavin Walston, our thoughts with you. Hope it clears soon. And you can get back to normality, but it's a huge concern, isn't it,

going forward. Thank you.

Now, it is the final moments of trade on Wall Street. Stocks are pretty much flat, actually. The Dow has tailed off somewhat after bouncing between

gains and losses.

So, this is your Business Breakout.

SpaceX could be about to close beneath its IPO price in a major embarrassment for the company. It comes barely a month after its market

debut. Shares have dipped beneath the $135 mark and could be heading for five straight days of losses. SpaceX is hoping to launch a test flight of

its Starship a few hours from now.

The U.S. plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on some Brazilian goods, this after accusing Brazil of engaging in unfair trade practices. These are some

of the first new measures to be imposed since the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration's tariff scheme. Mr. Trump's trade representative

is now launching investigations into companies -- or countries, rather -- to justify imposing tariffs.

U.S. retail sales were weaker than expected last month, despite the influx of tourists for the World Cup. Sales were up two-tenths of a percent in

June, down sharply from the one percent rise in May. The brief fall in gas prices last month kept sales numbers down.

The head of the International Energy Agency says things will never be the same for the energy sector after the war in Iran. Fatih Birol says the

disruption of the Strait of Hormuz has forced countries to think again about their energy supplies. He spoke to CNN's Jim Sciuto at the Aspen

Security Forum in Colorado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FATIH BIROL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY: Once it is closed, it can be closed again. So, I see it in the Turkish proverb, the

vase, you know, you put the flowers in, the vase is broken. Once it is broken, you cannot put it back the way it was before. So, it will lead to a

major change in the global energy system, because if you go back to 2022, what happened between Russia and Ukraine, until that time, there were two

major arteries bringing energy to the markets, one from Russia to Europe with the pipelines, and the other one is from the Strait of Hormuz to Asia

and the rest of the world. And both of them are now disrupted.

This is making major waves in the many governments, and the several governments are reviewing their energy strategies, looking for new

partnerships, new routes, and new technologies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Still to come, we visit the Galapagos Islands for an historic release 26 years in the making.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:11]

FOSTER: The Galapagos Islands are famous for their biodiversity and inspiring Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. But following his visit in

1835, many of its iconic species face severe devastation.

Today on "Call To Earth", witness the remarkable return of a reptile after a nearly two-century absence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a historic day for the Galapagos Island of Floreana as crates containing a long-lost

treasure are delivered to its shoreline.

JAMES GIBBS, VICE PRESIDENT, SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION, GALAPAGOS CONSERVANCY: This is absolutely a new beginning. It's a huge milestone.

It's the first time tortoises have returned to Floreana Island in 150 or so years.

WEIR (voice-over): Each crate weighs up to 80 kilograms and will need to be carried more than a kilometer inland where over the next three days 158

giant land tortoises will be released. This first reintroduction is part of a much larger long-term plan to re-wild the island with a dozen native

species.

As ecosystem engineers, tortoises are critical to these tropical islands helping disperse seeds, trample vegetation, and create habitat for other

species.

GIBBS: Floreana had, we estimate, 10,000 to 15,000 giant tortoises at one point.

WEIR (voice-over): Each island in the Galapagos has a distinct subspecies of tortoise. Floreana's was the first to be driven to extinction, largely

due to the 19th century whaling industry which used the island as a stopover and exploited the turtles for food.

But in 2000, while conducting a Galapagos-wide tortoise census, James Gibbs made a surprising discovery on Isabela Island's Wolf Volcano.

GIBBS: And there were many of the thousands of the native species there, but immediately, it became obvious that there are some strange tortoises

here and nowhere in Galapagos do you have the two types of tortoises occurring together.

WEIR (voice-over): Genetic testing would reveal these strange tortoises were hybrids carrying both Wolf Volcano and Floreana lineage.

GIBBS: It was always sort of a dream that, wow, maybe Floreana tortoises actually still exist in some form and maybe get them back on the island.

WEIR (voice-over): Twenty-six years later, that dream has become reality.

FREDDY VILLALBA, RANGER & BREEDING CENTER MANAGER, GALAPAGOS NATIONAL PARK DIRECTORATE (through translator): These are the last eggs that are

hatching.

WEIR (voice-over): For the past 15 years, more than 700 tortoises with Floreana ancestry have been raised at this breeding center on Santa Cruz

Island, all intended for reintroduction.

VILLALBA (through translator): Once they complete the 30 days of being born in the dark box, then they move to these pens which are the pens where

they will stay for two to three years. They are quite small and we have to take great care of them because, at that size, they are still easy prey for

predators.

WEIR (voice-over): According to the Galapagos Conservancy, captive- bred tortoises need to be between five and seven years old for them to have a

fighting chance when released in the wild. But back on Floreana, this pioneering group are all 12 to 14 years old. Added maturity that will

hopefully ensure their homecoming is a success. Each tortoise is also fitted with a GPS transmitter.

CHRISTIAN SEVILLA, DIRECTOR OF ECOSYSTEMS, GALAPAGOS NATIONAL PARK DIRECTORATE (through translator): With these 158 tortoises, what we want

is to determine which areas they will use for foraging and for migration, or for the ecological niches of these species.

[15:50:03]

WEIR (voice-over): Change won't happen overnight and more releases are planned in coming years. But if the classic fable teaches us anything, you

can bet on the tortoise.

GIBBS: It'll take a long time to get back to the 10,000 to 15,000 tortoises. They do grow slowly but they're very steady and persistent. I

mean, the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise does win the race. And I think it is just the beginning and the island is going to get its tortoises

back and start itself to replenish and renew.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: No rush. Do let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag #CallToEarth.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced that there will be a new screening program for testosterone deficiency amongst troops aged

30 and over. Any troops under 30 can also volunteer to be tested. In the social media announcement, Hegseth called the screenings necessary to allow

troops to operate at their best.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: What we know based on the science, we do know that testosterone levels can vary with age, and we also know

there's some research out there that suggests the stress and sleep deprivation among troops may be associated with changes in testosterone

levels, but we still don't have a lot of robust data to give us some insight into a large screening program like this one that's being rolled

out under the Pentagon. We did reach out to the Pentagon and for additional details. They didn't have any further comment beyond what Defense Secretary

Pete Hegseth did announce on his social media channels just yesterday. And in that announcement, like you said, Sara, he did say these screenings will

be part of the annual required medical examinations that troops go through.

And he said that if someone is found to be deficient in testosterone, then getting testosterone replacement therapy would be voluntary. Have a listen.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: If treatment is recommended, it's entirely your choice to receive testosterone replacement therapy. This

initiative, it's not about artificial enhancement. It's about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, and

ensuring you have the body. It's not about artificial enhancement. It's about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your

longevity, and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.

[15:55:03]

HOWARD: Sara, the timing of this initiative is also really interesting. This is being announced just about a month after the Department of Health

and Human Services announced that it is updating the labels on testosterone replacement therapy. It requested changes, three changes on therapy labels.

One change involves removing a statement that safety and effectiveness of testosterone replacement therapy has not been established in men with age-

related low testosterone. The two other requested updates involve information related to prostate cancer risk and enlarged prostate. So, we

are seeing this focus on testosterone out of the administration right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW. Do say with CNN.

END

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